Federer ‘hit hard’ by Murray’s early retirement

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01/12/2019

Roger Federer has been ‘‘hit hard’’ by the imminent retirement of his rival Andy Murray, but disputed the view that Murray had been unlucky to play in the same era as Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Federer said Murray had much to be proud of, pointing to his (three) major titles, reaching world No. 1 (2016) and Olympic golds, while expressing some ‘‘shock’’ that the Scot would be finishing up this year, as Murray said in an emotional media conference on Friday.

Roger Federer.Credit:Justin McManus

‘‘It hit me hard,’’ Federer told the Sunday Age in an exclusive interview. ‘‘Of course, I’ve seen Andy struggling you know with his hip and with his fitness for quite some time now.

‘‘You want somebody to go there and feel like he’s happy to retire. The problem is it’s not his decision, it’s the body’s decision and that naturally hurts.’’

Federer did not concur with the widespread view – voiced since Murray’s surprise announcement that he aimed to retire after Wimbledon, if not much sooner, due to his chronic hip problem – that the Scot had been unlucky in the timing of his career.

‘‘I mean, he won Wimbledon, he won the Oympics, became world No. 1. Is that unlucky? I don’t know. I always said you can have great careers, you can have great careers side by side. Maybe from Aussie stand point, yes he’s been unlucky because he made five finals here [in Melbourne] and never won one. But that’s why I think he will also be even more loved you know because he maybe didn’t make it here.

‘‘But I don’t think he will say or that we should say that he’s been unlucky, I think he’s worked extremely hard and when he got to world No. 1 or he won all those big event that he did, totally deserved them … he put in the workload and he’s an extremely talented player as well.’’

Federer said Murray had given his all and ‘‘made Scotland proud’’. ‘‘I feel like he left everything out there. There was never any doubts there. And I think he should be very proud even though he was extremely sad in the press conference and you know, you don’t want to see that.’’

Federer told the Sunday Age he was well-placed for this campaign, with no fitness issues, but he declared that this Open was “totally up for grabs’’ and he did not think he was entitled to favouritism.

‘‘Last year I also came in not expecting to defend again. In a way I also feel again, you know, it’s totally up for grabs again. I don’t think you can put me massive favourite. If you can put anybody as a big favourite, I think it would be Novak – or Rafa if he’s, you know, fully fully fit. You know, but only the first couple of matches will show where his level’s at. To my side, I just hope to be in the mix when it comes down the stretch.’’

Federer has often been asked for his view of Australia’s enigmatic talent Nick Kyrgios and his reply this time reflected that he was sick of fielding questions about the 23-year-old and that the ball was entirely in Kyrgios’ court.

Andy Murray and Roger Federer share a moment at the 2013 Open.Credit:Sebastian Costanzo

‘‘I get asked every time and I’m tired of answering the question. I like Nick, look at the end of the day and I think he’s a wonderful player and he’s got incredible shots and he knows that, we all know that. It’s just a question of how much he wants it. It’s up to him to decide how he wants to go about it.’’

Federer has never lost to his first round opponent Denis Istomin in six meetings and could not recall that he had played Istomin here in the first round of 2006 – ‘‘I can’t even remember that one’’ – but said he was wary of the fact that Istomin had upset Djokovic ‘‘a couple of years ago’’.

‘‘Of course, I know all about his big upset a couple of years ago against Novak. So naturally, I will not underestimate anybody and just because I’ve been playing well in the Hopman Cup doesn’t mean this is going to happen again here as well. So I’ve just got to fight for that good level from the get go here in the beginning.’’